Inside San Francisco (Nov 19th, 2019)

1. PG&E is considering another wave of power shutoffs across Northern California on Wednesday that could affect up to 303,000 customers. The weather forecast for the rest of the week calls for low humidity and strong wind gusts, the perfect conditions for quickly-spreading wildfires. PG&E says 25 different counties in the North and East Bay could see shutoffs, including over 12,000 customers in Alameda County, 23,000 in Marin County, and nearly 40,000 in Sonoma County, where the recent Kincade Fire scorched over 77,000 acres. Those affected by potential shutoffs should get notifications four hours in advance. – THE MERCURY NEWS

2. The Bay Area is home to 55 of the nation's 125 most expensive zip codes, with 13 in San Francisco alone, according to data from PropertyShark. The 94207 zip code in Atherton, near Menlo Park and Stanford University, had the highest median house price in the nation: $7.05 million. The director of USC's Lusk Center for Real Estate attributes the housing costs to supply-and-demand and high incomes being paid to engineers moving to the area to work in tech. Despite the sky-high prices, the median home in many parts of the Bay Area decreased this year, as part of a nationwide housing market slowdown. – SF CHRONICLE

3. San Francisco’s homeless population may be significantly larger than previously thought, according to public health data. The estimation of 17,595 homeless individuals is more than double that found in the city’s annual homeless count and is based on the number of homeless people seeking health care or other public assistance throughout the year. A spokesperson for San Francisco’s Department of Public Health said she believes the updated number is the best available estimate of the number of homeless people living in the city, though she cautioned that the number might be even higher, as the data only includes those who sought public assistance. – NY TIMES

4. An ice cream shop owner in the Mission District is offering a “1,000 cone reward” for information that leads to the arrest of suspected vandals. Juan San Mames, owner of Xanath Ice Cream, says his store has been vandalized several times since August 2018, including an incident where the windows were tagged and the front door lock was jammed with glue. In the most recent incident, multiple storefronts on the street suffered damage, though Xanath Ice Cream took the brunt of the vandalism. San Mames is offering a $2,000 reward for information that leads to arrest or a 1,000 cone ice cream party. – SF GATE

5. The Martinez News-Gazette, which has published continuously for over 161 years, will cease its print editions at the end of 2019. The local East Bay newspaper made the announcement on Facebook, saying that Dec. 29 would be the final print publication for the paper, and that its owner, Gibson Publishing, "offered no further details." News-Gazette Editor Rick Jones said it's possible the paper would continue in an online-only form. The newspaper was first published in September 1858, making it the oldest consistent publication in Contra Costa County. – PATCH

6. Digital artist Pablo Rochat is pranking SF by leaving AirPod stickers throughout the city. Rochat told Mashable he often sees people lose the slippery earbuds, and figured it would be easy to get pedestrians throughout the city to bend over to pick them up. He's also uploaded sticker templates to his website so pranksters throughout the world can leave AirPods on city streets. In 2017, Rochat unveiled a project where he utilized the tap-to-skip feature on Instagram stories to create interactive games. – MASHABLE

Have you seen any of these AirPod stickers in SF? Snap a photo and send to us if you do! Just hit "reply."

7. Eater SF has announced the city's finalists in The 2019 Eater Awards. The finalists for Restaurant of the Year include the wine bar Verjus, Gujarati restaurant Besharam, and Nari and Daeho Kalbijjim & Beef Soup, which are both in Japantown. San Francisco also boasts a category for Pop-Up of the Year, which includes S+M Vegan and cult-favorite El Garage. Eater will announce their award winners on Dec. 10. – EATER SF

8. Hoodline has a helpful list of locations to volunteer or take part in a community dinner over the Thanksgiving holiday. Churches throughout the city are serving community dinners (plus, in some cases, breakfast and lunch), and many need volunteer help during the day. There are also volunteer opportunities at the annual San Francisco Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning. – HOODLINE

9. San Francisco is set to get its first "American Indian Cultural District." The city's eighth cultural district will cover about 20 square blocks in The Castro and the Mission District and requires approval from the city's Historic Preservation Commission and Board of Supervisors. The ordinance will aim to promote economic strategies to maintain a stable population of Native Americans within the district, using funding from the Mayor's Office of Housing and Community Development. Mission District Supervisor Hillary Ronen called the designation an "anti-displacement tool." – SF EXAMINER

Jonathan Harris is a writer for Inside.com. Previously, he wrote for The Huffington Post, TakePart.com, and the YouTube channel What’s Trending. He’s a frequent performer at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in Hollywood. Follow him on Twitter @countrycaravan.

8. Hoodline has a helpful list of locations to volunteer or take part in a community dinner over the Thanksgiving holiday. Churches throughout the city are serving community dinners (plus, in some cases, breakfast and lunch), and many need volunteer help during the day. There are also volunteer opportunities at the annual San Francisco Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning. – HOODLINE